20. The War of the Fishes2
(Upper and Lower Uta'mqt.)When the Fishes discovered that the woman had been stolen, they returned home, leaving her child at Lytton.
Now, the Fishes desired to recover the woman, therefore the next year they all went on a war-expedition against the Animals, most of whom lived in the neighborhood of Nicola Lake. When they reached that place, they gave battle to the Animals, but were speedily vanquished and put to flight. Many of them were killed on the spot, and others were overtaken and slain before they could get out of the -Nicola Valley. Their bodies were all thrown into the lakes and streams of that country. This is said to be the reason why most kinds of fishes are found in the streams and lakes in Nicola at the resent day. The animals continued the pursuit of their enemies, and overt-ook the Sockeye or Red Salmon at the mouth of the Nicola River, where they slew him, and threw his body into the Thompson River. This, they say, is why the red salmon runs up the Thompson River, but seldom or ever up the Nicola. They continued the pursuit as far as the mouth of the Thompson at Lytton, where they overtook and killed Sturgeon, and threw is body into the Fraser River. This, they say, accounts for the sturgeon frequenting the Fraser River, and not the Thompson. Dog-Salmon alone, of a11 the Fishes, escaped, and, he has never since been afraid to leave the lower country.1 This is said to be the reason why the dog-salmon does not ascend the Fraser River above the canyon. Most of them do not even ascend so far as the canyon, but run in the river below Hope and Yale. It is said it is afraid to venture back again to the upper country from whence it was chased.
When Humpback-Salmon's son grew to be a man, he left Lytton and went on a visit to his relatives in the Fish country. Here he learned the ill story of the slaughter of his father and the other Fishes, so he determined to have revenge and to rescue his mother. Returning to Lytton, he proceeded to the Nicola country, where he found his mother at Nicola Lake. Some of the Animals treated him kindly enough; but others, especially Badger, talked very rudely to him, and told him if he did not leave, they would kill him. He got angry at this treatment, and one day fought with the Animals, killing Badger, Grizzly Bear, and many others. He took his mother back to Lytton, where they afterwards lived.
1 Some say the S'a'tcinko country, other the Uta'mqt country.